The whole world is buzzing right now about the incredible news of the rematch between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao, but the real headline that should excite every true boxing fan is another: Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani will meet in the ring on May 2 at the Tokyo Dome in a fight that, in terms of significance and the quality of the contenders, can be considered the greatest Japanese derby of all time.
The negotiations were rather long, but in the end, both teams reached an agreement. All four super bantamweight world titles, currently held by Inoue, will be at stake. The winner will also undoubtedly gain points in all P4P rankings. At present, in the ranking compiled by the U.S. magazine The Ring, Inoue is second, behind only Oleksandr Usyk, while Nakatani is in seventh place.
The two Japanese fighters last competed on the same card in Riyadh on December 27, but their performances elicited very different reactions. Inoue clearly outpointed Mexican Alan Picasso, dominating the fight from start to finish; Nakatani, on the other hand, after an excellent start, was caught by Sebastian Hernandez and won a very narrow decision, not without controversy.
Inoue has been a world champion in minimumweight, super flyweight, and bantamweight before unifying all the titles at super bantamweight. Nakatani, meanwhile, has held world titles at flyweight, super flyweight, and bantamweight before moving up in weight to chase the derby against his famous compatriot.
Both fighters are unbeaten and renowned for their power. Inoue has built a professional record of 32 wins with 27 KOs, while Nakatani has collected 32 victories, 24 of them by stoppage.
On paper, according to official statistics, Nakatani will have an 8 cm height advantage and a 3 cm reach advantage, but he may not necessarily exploit it given his tendency to trade at close range even against the most dangerous opponents.
Bookmakers’ initial odds, as expected, favor Naoya Inoue, whose victory is priced at 1.28. Nakatani’s possible win is currently listed at 3.75.
There is no doubt that the Tokyo Dome will be packed in every section, and the fight will be experienced in Japan as an event of utmost importance by a significant portion of the population—a sentiment that is shared by boxing fans all over the world.